


Saving Dally

by 1f_this_be_madness



Category: The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton
Genre: Friendship is so important and it is (I think) the only thing that could save Dally from himself, Gen, This is an edit to the text of The Outsiders, because the amount of death in that novel was NOT NECESSARY
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-16
Updated: 2015-12-02
Packaged: 2018-05-01 21:01:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5220665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1f_this_be_madness/pseuds/1f_this_be_madness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Curtis brothers just received a phone call from Dally about robbing a convenience store and that the cops are after him. The gang instantly runs to the vacant lot to meet him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"We reached the vacant lot just as Dally came in, running as hard as he could, from the opposite direction. The wail of a siren grew louder and then a police car pulled up across the street from the lot. Doors slammed as the policemen leaped out. Dally had reached the circle of light under the street lamp, and skidding to a halt, he turned and jerked a black object from his waistband" (Hinton 153).

Dally whipped the dark object out of the back of his waistband and I thought: you blasted fool. They don’t know you’re only bluffing. And as he raised the empty gun, my stomach lurched and became a block of ice. I dove at Dallas with no thought in my head except NO—NOT HIM AND JOHNNY BOTH and I tackled him to the ground with a strength I never knew that I possessed—especially since I had barely been able to stand a minute ago.

“Ponyboy!!” I heard my oldest brother bellow, and Soda gasped, almost a yelp, sounding both horrified and pained. I clutched Dally tightly and croaked out,

“Get it—somebody grab the gun—!” And from the corner of my eye I saw Steve snatch it up with murder in his eyes; but before he could point the heater at the cops, Soda wrenched the wretched thing out of his best friend’s grip and said, half-sobbing,

“Here, take it. It’s not loaded.” My brother throws the heater (non-threateningly) toward the closest officer. Two-Bit takes hold of Steve's shoulders gently but I’m not watching anymore because I feel Dallas shuddering underneath me and I roll off of him to check if he's okay. I realize that he’s sobbing.

“Damnit Ponyboy Curtis—why did you stop me?!?” He looks at me with his eyes so wild and broken that I also start to cry.

“I—I couldn’t let you die, Dally. I couldn’t watch…my best friend is dead—and my parents—and I-I don’t want to lose another person I care about.”

“I can’t stick around, kid. Johnny was the only guy I ever—” he swore explosively because Dallas Winston has probably never used the word ‘love’ in his life and he isn’t going to change his ways today.

“You stupid idiot,” I mutter before I stop to think. “Give the rest of us a chance to care. You’re one of us, Dally. You’re the strength of the gang, man. You can’t just go. Now—without Johnny—” my voice broke. “We need you. I need you—you’re the only one who loves Johnny as much as I do.” I know he doesn’t believe a single thing I’m saying, and I know that I’m being stupid and selfish and also that yes, I really had just called Dally Winston a stupid idiot and he probably wants to kill me…

And he’s obviously not waiting all that long to do it because I feel a wallop against my chest and everything goes black, even the glow from the lone streetlight above us—but no, I wasn’t walloped. Dallas is HUGGING me! He just sat up with this intent look on his face and grabbed me around the chest, and now he’s squeezing the daylights out of me. I hug him back, pressing my bruised and bloody face into his still-slightly-shaking shoulder.


	2. Chapter 2

***  
After about a minute Dallas lets go of me and stands up slowly. I stay kneeled down for a second because I suddenly feel kinda dizzy and sick. The rest of the gang has come closer to stand around us; all except for Darry, who is having a quiet conversation with one of the cops. He’ll probably have to fill out some paperwork or something about an averted or mistaken crisis. That might piss Dally off; I’ve mentioned before that he’s pretty proud of his police record. Right now, though, he looks too tired to get pissed off. Two-Bit is closest to him, and puts a hand on Dallas’s shoulder hesitantly.

“Hey Dally. I’m glad you’re okay.” He says it quietly, seriously, without his signature dash or humor. Dally nods shortly before taking the switchblade out of his pocket and opening it with a snap. Two-Bit steps back like he expects Dally to turn around and stab him—heck, maybe Dally would—but he just hands the thing over handle-first. 

“Thanks for lettin’ me use it,” I hear him mutter. Two-Bit blinks rapidly and it looks like his hands are shaking. We’re all turning into bawl-babies now.

“No problem.” He pats Dallas on the shoulder softly. Dally leans in and I think maybe now THEY’RE gonna hug, but no.

“I’m dog-tired,” Dally looks around at all of us. “I just want to sleep.”

“I could sleep for a year,” my ever-energetic brother Soda adds quietly. I think Steve’s gonna make fun of him, but he just nods and growls,

“Yeah, buddy, I know what you mean.” Then Darry walks back over with that hard look on his face. It softens when he’s standing next to us, and I realize something obvious—the hard and unfeeling Darry is just a mask. The real one, my big brother who grew up too fast to take care of me and Soda, feels helpless just like Dally and all the rest of us feel right now.

“Everything’s sorted,” he says quietly as the cops pull away in their now-silent cars. “I just have to go down to the station and get some paperwork filled out, but that’s not important right now.” He looks directly at Dally. “You got a place to stay for the night, Dally?” Our normally-strongest-member shrugs, still looking broken. I bite my lip so I don’t start to cry again. Soda throws an arm around me and I bury my head in his shirt for a second, feeling a bit light-headed. Then Darry speaks again. “I want you to know you’ve got a home with us for as long as you need.” Dallas Winston makes a disbelieving noise. “I mean it, Dally. I can’t say it better than Ponyboy—you’re the strength of this gang. We would be nothin’ without you.” Dally nods again and swipes his hand across his eyes.

“Okay,” he whispers shakily. “Thanks, Darry.” My oldest brother nods back at him and, as we all head back across the lot together, Darry falls in next to me and Soda.

“That was real tuff of you, Darry,” Soda says.

“Thanks, little buddy.”

“It really was,” I add, proudly. My oldest brother really is a cool ol’ guy. 

“Well, you were right, Pony. We all care about him…”

“…And since we can’t lose the guy,” Two-Bit skips by merrily, “You boys get to keep ‘im!”

“Aw, lay off,” I protest, but both of my brothers are laughing and Dally is almost smiling. Good ol’ Two-Bit sure knows what to do to lighten the moment. Darry slings his arm around me as we walk, and when we reach the gate in front of our house, he stops Soda and me. “What’s up, Darry?” I say because he’s looking super serious again. I wonder if he can tell I'm barely standing on my own?

“Listen, we’re gonna be okay, Soda, Ponyboy.” He tells us quietly. “We gotta keep Dally goin’ and we’re not gonna quit, all right?"

“Just like we did after Mom and Dad...,” Soda murmurs. I swallow hard and wipe a tear from my eye. There’s a weight in my stomach again, not as icy as before, but still cold. Living with grief is so hard to do.

“It’s so hard.” I hadn’t realized I’d spoken aloud, but both my brothers are looking at me. Darry’s eyes are intense yet pleading, and Soda looks scared and lost. I close my own eyes for just a second. I’ve gotta help somehow. Saying the right thing is up to me. I open my eyes and look at each of my brothers in turn. “But I know we can do it together.”

“Together,” Soda repeats fervently, almost like a prayer.

“Together.” Darry says, smiling at me. The three of us give each other a tight hug as we make this promise: we’re going to be strong together for ourselves, for the gang, and for Dally. We’ll do it for Johnny.


	3. Chapter 3

***  
Soda goes into the house slightly ahead of me, stumbling with exhaustion. Steve is stretched out on our couch again, but when he sees Soda come in he moves over to make room for him. Two-Bit has leaned up against the front of the chair and turns on the TV low, just for a bit of background noise, I guess. Dallas is slumped in the chair that Two-Bit leans against, his eyes hooded and dim. I stand outside for a second and look at all of them. I’m glad they’re all here, but my heart lurches painfully in my chest when I remember that Johnny is gone. As I get to the threshold of the door I go weak at the knees. Darry, who’d gone to look for an extra set of sheets so he could make a bed for Dally, turns around across the room and looks back at me.

“You okay, Ponyboy?” His voice is sharp and loud, the way it was that night I came in so late after falling asleep with Johnny in the lot…Johnny who will never wake up again—there’s nothing we can do for him or for any of us—my stomach gives a violent start and turns back into a hunk of ice. The world around me starts spinning and fading and darkening, and the last thing I see as the floor rushes up to meet me is the terrified face of Dallas Winston.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a little bit of dialogue taken directly from Chapter 10 of The Outsiders. All the thanks to S.E. Hinton yet again.
> 
> I also simply MUST thank Serya for her thoughtful commentary and for having as much passion for these characters as I do! The Muses have struck again due to your enchantments ;-D

***  
I wake up groggy and disoriented. The last thing I remember is running with the gang to meet Dally at the vacant lot, and he’d jerked that heater out of his waistband…I gasp and sit up so sharply that I feel like I’m about to throw up.

“Whoa, easy, kid,” a rough voice says, and Dally is in front of me holding me still. “You gotta take things slow.” As he looks at me with concern in his normally cold blue eyes, my memory comes rushing back. I notice that there is a sheet spread out on the floor at the foot of my bed. Had he been sleeping there all night? Why didn’t Darry give him the couch? Where’s Soda? 

I must’ve said something or whimpered their names, because now Soda and Darry are on either side of me. Soda gives me a tight side-hug and Darry pushes my sweaty hair back from my forehead with a cool hand. Dallas has backed up to stand outside the door—so we can have brotherly privacy, I guess—but I can’t stop looking at him, making sure he’s really here. I hadn’t realized before how terrified I’d been about him dying like Johnny…I bite my lip and feel myself start to cry.

“Shh, shh Pony, it’s okay. We’re here. It’s okay.” Soda sits on the bed and hushes me, hugging me to him the way he’d held Johnny after we’d found him beaten in the lot…thinking about that just makes me cry harder. Darry moves to my other side and strokes my head soothingly with his big strong fingers. I feel myself getting calmer and then before I know it I’ve re-closed my eyes. I’m awful tired.

The next time I wake, I don’t feel sick. I’m actually ravenous and my mouth is dry as sandpaper. I pan my eyes around the room, wondering if I’d dreamed that last time I’d awoken… “Dally?” I call hesitantly. I hear a grunt and then a scraping sound, and his tufty blond hair appears at the end of my bed above those laser-like eyes of his. “Oh, good. You are here.” He snorts.

“’Course I am, kid. Until your brother boots me out or you’re back on your feet, I ain’t leavin’.” His voice gets softer. “Can’t pay you back that way after you told me I had to stay.”

“I called you an idiot!” I remember and my eyes grow wide. “I’m sorry, Dally, that wasn’t too tuff of me.” He squints at me and then actually starts to laugh.

“Nah, don’t apologize, Pony. I WAS bein’ an idiot that night and someone needed to tell me that. If it’d been Darry, I might’a smacked him around a bit, but you…” his voice trails off and he reaches over and ruffles my hair. I feel myself blush. The only person he’d ever shown that kind of affection to before was Johnny.

“Thanks, Dally.” I say quietly. He nods shortly.

“What’s this I hear about smacking me around?” Darry is standing in the doorway. Looming is more like it, actually. “After I offered you bed and board in this little house of ours?” He shakes his head slowly and seriously. “I’m hurt, Dallas Winston.” We all go silent until Soda pops his head around the door—and Darry’s—frame. 

“You want me to get you a tissue, Darry?” My oldest brother scoffs and grabs Soda in a headlock. The four of us bust out laughing. Dally falls flat on the floor out of sight because he’s laughing so hard. Darry gives Soda a noogie and pushes him away, still chuckling. 

After we’re all laughed out, Soda comes over to me. “How you feelin’, Ponyboy?”

“I’m pretty good. Not so tired anymore. How long was I out?” Soda thinks for a second.

“Well, the rumble was on Saturday, right?” Darry nods.

“And today’s Tuesday. You’ve been asleep and delirious since that night.”

Boy howdy. I’m never going to be able to make up all the school I’ve missed. “What was the matter with me?”

Darry shakes his head at me. “I told you you were in no condition for a rumble. Exhaustion, shock, minor concussion—and Two-Bit came blubberin’ over here with some tale about how you were running a fever before the rumble and how it was all his fault you were sick. He was pretty torn up that night.” He stops, and Dallas, still sitting on the floor, continues,

“Yeah, we all were. Glory, kid, you had me—you had all of us—scared to death.” He clears his throat, realizing the words he just said, and none of us can speak for a minute. I try not to remember how Johnny was such a good buddy, how he hadn’t wanted to die, how he’d told me to stay gold. …What had he been talking about? I couldn’t figure it.

After a period of silence, Darry clears his throat. “If you’re feelin’ okay, Ponyboy, do you want anything to eat?”

“Yeah!” I hadn’t thought to ask for food yet. “I’m really hungry.”

“I should think you would be. How ‘bout some mushroom soup?”

“Gosh, that’d be just fine.” He nods and grins at the eager expression on my face, but before he can go to the kitchen Dally stands up.

“Darry, you stay in here with him. I’ll go make it.” Darry looks at him gratefully. Soda smirks.

“You sure you know where the soup is, Dally?” Dallas cuts his eyes at him.

“Yep. Sure do, Sodapop. I know where the can-opener is too—right next to the place you always hide that extra slice of cake for yourself.” Soda’s eyes widen and Darry chuckles.

“You heard him, Pepsi-Cola. Dally already knows where everything is.” My brother saying that makes me happy. In our house, Dallas Winston finally feels at home.

**Author's Note:**

> My thanks to S.E. Hinton for creating a novel that has been speaking to readers for more than 40 years.
> 
> Thanks to my Educational Psychology professor for having a project that allowed me to revisit this book. I wrote an assignment for potential seventh-grade students where they can take a scene or chapter from The Outsiders and rewrite it. I decided to follow my assignment's parameters and this was the result.


End file.
